


Fresh Fruit is Good for You

by Clea2011



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Sex Pollen, Theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 17:59:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3456539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clea2011/pseuds/Clea2011
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin eyed the large bowl of delicious-looking berries that were sitting on Gaius’ workbench.  They were round and ripe, and a particularly attractive shade of deep purple.  Gaius probably wouldn’t miss just one…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fresh Fruit is Good for You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my hc bingo postage stamp Theft, Sex Pollen (wild card), headaches/migraines, fever/delirium, and also the trope bingo square 'Sex pollen'.  
> Huge thanks to Fififolle and Deinonychus_1 for the super-fast beta!

 

It had been a long time since breakfast. A very long time.

Even though Merlin had eaten quite well that morning, he was starting to feel hungry again. When he’d fetched Arthur’s breakfast, Arthur had thrown an apple at him. Then he’d told him he’d better eat what was left of the bread and cheese (two large rolls and a sizable chunk) otherwise it would go to waste, and even let him have one of the honey cakes that cook had sent up as a treat for the prince. It had all been done in Arthur’s usual offhand way, but somehow Merlin had ended up well-fed. Arthur did that quite often, he noticed, looking after him without appearing to do so. But Arthur was out hunting and wouldn’t be back to pretend not to share his enormous supper for ages.

Merlin eyed the large bowl of delicious-looking berries that were sitting on Gaius’ workbench. They were round and ripe, and a particularly attractive shade of deep purple. Gaius probably wouldn’t miss just one…

“Don’t touch them, Merlin.”

Merlin did his best to look offended at the very idea that he would do such a thing. Also, he wondered how Gaius knew he’d reached out towards the bowl. He had his back to Merlin after all. Actually, that fact was rendering the offended look quite useless.

“I wasn’t going to…”

Gaius turned, and raised an eyebrow at him. Merlin capitulated. Just how his mentor managed to make him do that, just by raising that admittedly quite terrifying eyebrow, was beyond him. But he did.

“I just wanted one.”

“No,” Gaius told him firmly. “You don’t. I’ve spent half the morning gathering these up, they have to be disposed of very carefully. The bushes have been dug up and burned, but the fruit is a little harder to destroy.”

The berries didn’t look poisonous. Merlin pointed this out.

“They’re not poisonous. But they’re dangerous if they’re not disposed of correctly. So leave them.” He paused, then added, “Shouldn’t you be off helping Arthur?”

Merlin in fact should have been upstairs changing the sheets and cleaning the floors. But with Arthur out hunting and unlikely to be back any time soon Merlin had ages, especially if he did all his chores with magic. He could probably do the whole lot in about ten minutes if he really had to. It was a bit risky though, once or twice Arthur had almost walked in on him.

“He’s off killing things.” As long as it wasn’t unicorns or anything like that, Arthur probably wouldn’t get himself into trouble with it. Probably. “Won’t be back for hours.”

Gaius gave a little humph, and then very pointedly looked across at the leech tank. “Well, if you’re not busy…”

Suddenly, changing Arthur’s sheets and cleaning the floors seemed very appealing. “I didn’t say that.”

“Ah, but you did, Merlin, not in so many words. Now, the leech tank needs cleaning, and then I’ve got a list of errands you can run. In fact…”

Whatever else Gaius had got lined up for him (and Merlin knew from past experience that the list was likely to be extensive) would remain forever unknown. Just at that moment the king’s manservant appeared in the doorway to Gaius’ chambers.

“Gaius, the king wishes to see you immediately.”

Merlin glanced at his mentor worriedly. There was always the risk that Uther had found out about his magic, or found something about Gaius (who wasn’t averse to using the odd bit of magic himself at times).

“Am I to know why?” Gaius asked.

“He’s unwell. You must attend at once.”

Merlin felt a little flutter of relief, though he saw Gaius’ shoulders slump slightly. Being physician to the king wasn’t always the most pleasant of tasks, particularly when the king was ill or in pain and felt that others should share his suffering.

“Very well.” Gaius looked over at the bowl of berries, then back at Merlin. “Don’t touch _anything_ whilst I’m gone. Especially not those berries, they’re dangerous.”

Merlin tried to look as innocent as possible. Really though, with Gaius he was always wasting his time.

“I mean it,” Gaius called over his shoulder as he headed for the door. “And don’t forget to clean the leech tank!”

Merlin hated cleaning the leech tank. The disgusting little creatures always seemed to manage to attach themselves to him and whilst they didn’t actually hurt they did tend to stick around. Sometimes, if he hadn’t noticed them, they’d be there for hours. Worse, he’d not found a way yet to clean it with magic without vanishing all the leeches as well. Gaius hadn’t been too pleased about that and had sent him off to find replacements.

The bowl of berries did look good…

No, he would leave them. Just in case they really were dangerous, and not simply a treat Gaius was keeping for himself.

Although maybe just one…

“Ah, there you are, Merlin.” Arthur strode into the room as if he owned the place. He would, one day, but right now it was almost like trespassing.

Merlin jumped, startled. Mostly because he had been reaching for the bowl and had thought it was Gaius coming back. Arthur was supposed to be off hunting. “Don’t you ever knock?”

Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Why? What were you doing?” He walked over and picked up the bowl of berries. “Keeping treats you’ve stolen from the kitchen?”

“No… those are Gaius’s…”

“Gaius stole them from the kitchen?”

“No… I think they’re for a potion or something.”

“Well he won’t mind me eating a few then will he?”

And before Merlin could stop him, Arthur had grabbed a handful of the delicious-looking fruits and was munching on them. “Mmm…”

“They might be poisonous…” Merlin attempted.

Arthur paused in mid-chew, looking at the berries in mild concern. “Are they?”

“Well, no, but…”

“No problem then. These are really good. Did you honestly believe Gaius was keeping these for a potion, Merlin? Really? He was probably waiting until you’d gone and then looking forward to a tasty treat.”

“Well then you shouldn’t be eating them, should you?” Merlin retorted. “Stealing from a poor old man.”

Arthur was showing no sign of stopping, scooping up another handful. There was red juice running down his chin, and he didn’t even seem to be noticing.

“Leave him some of them at least,” Merlin attempted. “And he did say they were dangerous, I don’t think you should be eating them.”

Arthur muttered something that sounded as if it was mildly insulting. It was difficult to tell as his mouth was so full. Also, it wasn’t like Arthur to be quite that greedy. Even when Merlin brought him his favourite honey cakes he would share them, as he’d proved that morning, and certainly wouldn’t scoff them like this. Perhaps the berries really were dangerous.

“Arthur, stop!” Merlin snatched the bowl away, but Arthur immediately made a grab for it. Merlin swung it out of his reach, sending berries flying everywhere. Arthur dived at him, pushing him to the floor and trying to wrestle the bowl out of his hands. Merlin could feel berries being crushed beneath him, the juice soaking through his clothes. “Arthur!”

Arthur managed to get hold of the bowl, but by that time the remaining berries were on the floor and mostly squashed beneath either Arthur or Merlin. Those that weren’t had rolled away.

“They’ve all gone,” Arthur complained. “They were delicious. Get me more.” He pushed the bowl at Merlin, who took it back and regarded it sadly.

“Gaius is going to kill me,” Merlin grumbled. “He’ll blame me, even though it was you who ate them.”

Arthur sat up, brushing himself down. He didn’t seem particularly concerned that his shirt was now heavily stained with berry juice. “Then go and find some more before he gets back. I’ll wait here.” He noticed a berry on the floor that hadn’t been squashed, held it up triumphantly and then ate it. “Mmm.”

It had been quite dusty. In fact, Merlin thought there might have been a hair on it, and Arthur didn’t appear to have noticed. That wasn’t like Arthur, who was the fussiest of the fussy. Evidently something was amiss.

“Maybe I should get Gaius…”

“No! Get more berries!” Arthur demanded. He tapped the bowl. “Hurry up.”

Merlin glanced at the door. Gaius would, hopefully, be back any minute and could cure Arthur. The berries seemed to have been intoxicating in some way. “I don’t think there are any more,” he admitted. “Gaius said something about digging up the bushes and burning them.”

Arthur stared at him as if he’d said the most terrible thing ever. Then he looked around, peering under the table to see if he could find any more berries.

“Come on, Arthur, get up.” Merlin tugged on his arm. To his surprise Arthur did get to his feet without too much difficulty.

“We’re going to fetch more berries?”

The wretched things seemed to have taken effect very, very quickly, Merlin thought. He hoped the confusion was temporary, and that it would turn out to be the only effect. That hope was dashed a moment later when Arthur gave a little groan, and put a hand over his eyes.

“Feeling sick?” Merlin asked hopefully. Vomiting would, after all, get those berries out faster than anything else.

“Headache. It’s too bright in here.”

Gaius’ chambers weren’t particularly light and airy. Arthur’s own quarters were, being those of the crown prince. Merlin’s pokey little room only had one tiny window. It was always a bit dark, even on the brightest summer’s day. It would do, just for a few minutes. Arthur would probably grumble and complain about having his princely self lying on such a poor and uncomfortable excuse for a mattress. Still, perhaps he’d find Merlin a new one. There was, Merlin knew, small chance of that happening. He tried not to think about how his existing mattress was going to smell of Arthur for a while after this, and what sort of dreams and fantasies he was likely to have as a result.

“Come on,” he steered Arthur towards the little staircase that led up to his room. “Lie down in here, then I’ll go and fetch Gaius. He’ll know what to do.”

“My head _really_ hurts,” Arthur complained. He didn’t sound as sure of himself as usual. “And I feel really hot.”

That wasn’t a good sign. Whatever it was that the berries did, it couldn’t be anything good. Merlin wondered if he should try to make Arthur throw them back up. It would mean his little room was going to smell of sick for a long time, but it would be preferable to dead prince.

“Lie down,” he told Arthur, leading him to the bed. “And here,” he shoved a bucket into the prince’s hands. Arthur didn’t need to know it was normally used as a chamber pot. “Don’t throw up on my bed.”

Arthur sat down on the edge of the bed and just looked at the bucket. He did look horribly pale, and when Merlin reached out to feel his forehead, he was definitely burning up.

“I’m going to find Gaius,” Merlin announced.

“Yes, do that. This is your fault, Merlin.”

That was probably what Gaius was going to say as well, Merlin realised miserably. Not Arthur’s fault for being greedy and self-important and just helping himself to berries that he’d been told to leave alone. No, it would be Merlin’s fault.

He watched as Arthur lay back on the bed with a groan (and that sight was probably going to fuel a few dreams as well, he realised).

“Perhaps you won’t be so greedy next time,” Merlin muttered. Perhaps it would be better if he tried to make Arthur sick rather than leave him alone and try to find Gaius, he thought. Gaius always said that if someone had eaten something poisonous then making them sick was the best way to deal with it.

“Sit up again, I need to make you throw up.”

Arthur opened one eye, and regarded him with it sceptically. It was not entirely unlike the expression Gaius often used. “What?”

“You need to vomit up those berries. Come on, Arthur, sit up.”

“I don’t feel nauseous. I’ve got a bad headache and I’m too hot. It’s probably a fever coming on. Honestly, Merlin, you’re supposed to be Gaius’s apprentice. I’d be a better assistant for him than you would!”

Merlin thought he’d like to watch Arthur cleaning out the leech tank, but didn’t say so. “Arthur…”

“ _Mer-_ lin…”

He had, at least, stopped demanding more berries, which was something. Merlin was hesitant to remind him of them in case he started again, but…

“You’re feeling ill because of those berries. Best way to get them out is the way they went in. Open up!”

Arthur looked at him even more suspiciously. He was quite pale now, and his eyes were looking a little reddened. “Why? What are you thinking of doing?”

“Gaius says the fastest way to make someone sick is to stick your fingers down their throat.”

“What?” Arthur sat up far too quickly and swayed slightly. “You are _not_ sticking your fingers down my throat!”

“But…”

“I’ll bite them!” Arthur barred his teeth. “Don’t even try it.”

It would have to be salt water then. Slower to take effect, but at least Merlin would still have his fingers at the end of it. Probably.

“I’ll go and get you a drink instead,” Merlin offered. Arthur just slumped back onto the bed, and dragged the rough blanket over himself. He had to be feeling bad, Merlin thought, or he would be complaining about the bed by now. Instead he was almost snuggling down into it… and did he just sniff the pillow?

It couldn’t possibly smell good. Merlin hurried out of the room before Arthur started telling him just how poor the smell was.

The difficulty, Merlin knew, was going to be getting Arthur to drink the saline solution Merlin was mixing up for him. Just to be on the safe side, he bottled up an entire flask of the stuff because the chances of Arthur throwing it aside were high. There was still no sign of Gaius returning.

“Merlin!” Arthur called from his room. “Get back in here.”

Evidently the headache wasn’t bad enough to stop him shouting. Merlin stoppered the flask, grabbed a beaker, and headed back to his room.

Arthur wasn’t on his bed.

Merlin stopped just inside the doorway, not expecting Arthur to have moved. The prince wasn’t ever the best of patients when he was sick. There had been one time when he’d stayed in bed for four days with a fever. When Merlin caught the same fever from treating him Arthur had grumbled and complained about the loss of his servant even though Merlin had only been laid up a single day.

The door slammed shut behind him, and Merlin heard the key turn in the lock. For the briefest of moments he thought Arthur had locked him in there. Then he turned and realised several things.

Firstly, Arthur _had_ locked him in there, but Arthur had locked himself in there as well. He flung the key aside, looking far too pleased with himself. Secondly, Arthur had been waiting beside the door for him to come upstairs. He still looked a little pale, and his eyes looked a little glazed, as if he were drugged, but he didn’t look as sickly as he had a few minutes before. Thirdly, the fever was obviously making Arthur extremely warm, because he’d lost all his clothes.

That third thing, Merlin realised, might be a problem. It wasn’t that Merlin didn’t see Arthur half-naked on a regular basis, being his manservant and all, but baths aside Arthur tended to at least have something to cover his princely bits. And Merlin tended to give him a little privacy when he got into the bath (mostly to spare Merlin himself the inevitable fantasies that would arise from watching Arthur in that state).

“Merlin…” Arthur grabbed hold of him and pulled him close. Close to his extremely naked body. His extremely naked and aroused body.

“You’re ill,” Merlin protested, trying to wriggle free. It was difficult because Arthur was very strong, and if he were honest Merlin didn’t entirely want to escape. It was not at all unpleasant being squashed against the prince’s warm skin. But Arthur was clearly drugged. Merlin was starting to suspect that the berries weren’t actually poisonous. No, the problem with them was something else entirely.

“I’m feeling much better,” Arthur assured him. “Mmm,” he pushed his face into Merlin’s neck and started to kiss and lick at the skin there. “Those berries... how did they get there?”

Doubtless when Arthur had been fighting him for them, Merlin realised. He probably had the things crushed all over him. Arthur could lick them off if he liked them so much… No, that would be a terrible and wrong idea. Arthur was drugged. He couldn’t take advantage.

Arthur’s hands were sliding under Merlin’s tunic and lifting it up over his head, flinging it aside.

“Arthur, stop. You’re not yourself…”

“Oh I am,” Arthur murmured, his breath warm against Merlin’s neck, and Merlin gave a little shiver at the sensation. “I really am. I’ve been wanting to do this to you for a long, long time…”

Merlin wanted it to be true, he really, really did. But Arthur would come out of this, and be furious or embarrassed, or both.

“Please, Arthur, you’re going to hate me for this in the morning.” He twisted weakly, not really wanting this to stop. He’d wanted Arthur for so long.

Arthur gave a low chuckle, leaned in and captured his mouth. It felt every bit as good as Merlin had always thought it might. Arthur tasted of sweet berries and summer. And those berries must have been very, very ripe.

“We shouldn’t,” Merlin murmured half-heartedly. “We really shouldn’t.”

But Arthur wasn’t listening. Merlin felt himself lifted up off his feet and then dropped down onto the bed.

“I’m not a girl for you to carry around,” Merlin protested feebly. Really, Arthur could carry him around all he liked and Merlin would happily just let him.

Arthur grinned at him, and reached for the ties on his breeches. They really shouldn’t, Merlin thought again. But as Arthur’s fingers brushed against his eager cock, he realised he didn’t care.

\---

Uther had not been unwell.

He had, in fact, wanted an excuse not to have to listen to his subjects’ petitions that afternoon, and told Gaius that he was to explain to anyone who asked that the king had a mild fever and was not to be disturbed.

Uther had no such thing and spent over two hours sitting up in his chambers with Gaius and reminiscing about old times. Uther had evidently enjoyed this a lot and was in a tremendously good mood when Gaius left. Gaius enjoyed it far less, the old times in question having occasional mention of the Great Purge. Also he really needed to get back to his chambers because he didn’t entirely trust Merlin not to do something silly with those berries.

Of course, if Merlin had, Gaius suspected he would already have heard about it. The effects of those particular berries were well-known to those familiar with the old religion. Just one was fairly intoxicating. More than that and the effects tended to have the unfortunate consumer generate quite a spectacle.

But a maid had been calmly sweeping the stairs as he passed, and when he reached the corridor outside his quarters there was still no sign of any disruption. It was heartening to know that Merlin did actually listen to him, he thought. And then he opened the door.

There looked as if there had been some sort of fight in the middle of the room, with several shattered flasks and an all-too-familiar looking bowl lying on the floor. There were also berry stains on the flagstones. The berries, of course, were gone.

Worse, there were _noises_ coming from Merlin’s room. Grunts and moans, and… was that _Arthur’s_ voice?

“Oh gods, Merlin… yes… harder… Merlin… _Merlin...”_

Gaius could move quite quickly when he wanted to. He headed back out into the corridor. It was, he thought, time for a _very_ long tour of the lower town. Hopefully, by the time he returned, the effects would have worn off.

He locked the door, just to be on the safe side. Merlin had a key of his own, after all. Assuming he was ever going to want to leave his room.

\---

Arthur had woken up feeling as if something had crawled into his mouth and died.

He also appeared to be lying on the most uncomfortable excuse for a mattress ever. It was lumpy and thin and sagged in the middle. And there was a warm body pressed up close against him, which was probably just as well because the blanket covering them was thin and insubstantial in the cold bedroom. A gentle snore told him that his companion was still asleep.

It gave him a few moments to gather his thoughts. The previous night… and afternoon too, he realised... was very hazy. He could remember getting back from hunting early, coming to find Merlin for reasons so flimsy he couldn’t even remember what they were, and then finding those berries…

Oh. Those berries. He was never, ever going to eat _anything_ he found in Gaius’ chambers ever again. They’d tasted so good, and made Merlin look so good… no, actually he’d thought that for a long time but never acted on it until now. He could remember demanding more of them at first, and then the need for Merlin had outweighed the need for berries. It had been a bit like being very, very drunk. Oh, they were dangerous, evil berries. Probably the work of some sorcerer. Some magical sex sorcerer.

After that all he could remember was kissing Merlin, pushing him down onto the bed and having sex with him. A lot of sex. Fantastic sex. At least, it had been for Arthur. Merlin had seemed enthusiastic enough but that was only after Arthur had kissed him. Arthur could vaguely remember being very sticky with berry juice, so that meant when they kissed Merlin had probably been affected too.   He probably hadn’t actually wanted to, which meant Arthur had effectively forced him. _Oh gods…_

There was little Arthur despised more than someone who took advantage of someone weaker than themselves, or someone they were in a position of power over. He had always tried to protect his hapless manservant. And now this. He’d been under the influence of those wretched berries, yes, but it was Arthur who had grabbed them in the first place, thinking it would be funny to annoy Merlin. He’d only meant to have a couple but they’d been so tasty. And Merlin had warned him, tried to help him, and he’d been repaid like this.

Beside him, Merlin gave a little snuffle and snuggled closer, lying half across Arthur’s chest, his dark head resting on Arthur’s shoulder. Arthur tried not to think about how pleasant that was.

Merlin didn’t seem particularly traumatised, but then he was still asleep. When he woke up he was probably going to hate Arthur. He’d probably cry, Merlin tended to do that. The big girl, Arthur thought fondly, and then instantly felt appalled with himself.

Arthur bit his lip, not daring to move in case he woke Merlin. He didn’t know what to do. Merlin was going to hate him. He’d probably leave, he couldn’t stay here after this. If he went back to Ealdor and Arthur never saw him again, it was going to leave such a huge hole in Arthur’s life. He’d messed this up royally. He should have courted Merlin, tried to win his heart. When they finally woke up together it shouldn’t be like this.

Merlin made a low noise in his throat, curled in closer to Arthur, then suddenly froze. Slowly he raised his head and looked at Arthur. Arthur could see the fear and horror in his eyes. It was worse than he thought. They both spoke at once.

“Arthur, I’m so sorry...”

“Merlin, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have… wait, why are you sorry?”

“You didn’t know what you were doing. I should have tried harder to stop you.”

“I practically forced you. There’s no excuse, I should have fought it.” Arthur paused, remembering. “I locked you in here!”

“Oh.” Merlin looked over at the door, then gave him a nervous little half-smile that faded as quickly as it appeared. “You think… No, I could have got out.”

“How? Gods, Merlin, I didn’t give you a chance. I had no right, no right at all.”

Merlin gazed at him, looking every bit as worried as Arthur felt. “But you ate those berries. Gaius said they were dangerous. Obviously they intoxicated you.”

“That’s no excuse!”

“But it is. I wasn’t affected at first, I shouldn’t have given in. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that.”

“But… you didn’t.” Arthur started to feel a small glimmer of hope. Maybe there was a chance Merlin had wanted this too.

“You’re probably going to sack me aren’t you?” Merlin added. “Or send me away? Please don’t send me away, Arthur.”

He hadn’t moved away. That had to be a good sign, Arthur thought. And Merlin felt good, lying there pressed against him. Warm and right. Arthur slid his arm around Merlin’s waist, making sure there was no chance of him getting out of bed and escaping. Merlin didn’t pull away. That had to be a good sign too.

“No. Definitely not.” Arthur watched Merlin’s expression brighten, just a little. “Not if you’re sure that this is all right?”

“Oh, it’s more than all right.” Somehow, Merlin’s face had got much closer. He was leaning in, making it easy for Arthur to reach up and kiss him. There was no resistance. Slowly Arthur was starting to believe that they might be able to get through this. When they broke away, Merlin had a huge grin breaking out across his face.

Arthur couldn’t help smiling back. “You’re definitely not going anywhere,” he promised. “But I might need to get you a new bed though, this one’s really lumpy and uncomfortable.” He paused, stroking Merlin’s back in slow circles. “Cold, too. Perhaps I’ll have new blankets sent in.”

“Guilt blankets?” Merlin asked, but he was still smiling, more confident. “You know, you could just let me have your bed if you’re that worried about it. Your bed’s very comfortable.”

Arthur had found him asleep on it a few times when Merlin was supposed to be working. So he didn’t have to ask how Merlin knew. Not that he’d ever thought about his manservant, sprawled across Arthur’s bed. Well, he’d always tried not to, anyway. And failed, generally.

“And then where would I sleep?” Arthur asked gently.

“I’d find you somewhere,” Merlin assured him. “I wouldn’t leave you out in the cold.”

Then he kissed him again.

“Perhaps we should go and see,” Arthur whispered when they broke apart. He started to sit up, but his new lover stopped him.

“Later,” Merlin told him. He pushed Arthur back down onto the bed, and Arthur found he really didn’t care how lumpy and uncomfortable that mattress was as long as he shared it with Merlin. As long as Merlin was holding him down and kissing him thoroughly. “We can do that later.”

It sounded like an excellent plan.

And Arthur had a feeling that they wouldn’t be needing any more berries either.


End file.
